Liverpool closed the gap on leaders Manchester City with victory over West Ham, while Chelsea tightened their grip on third place in Saturday's Premier League action.
The Blues saw off Burnley 4-0 at Turf Moor, a scoreline that was matched by Aston Villa in their statement victory against Southampton.
Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Brentford also picked up wins, but it was a bad start to life under new management for Leeds in their early kick-off against Leicester City.
Following another eventful day of Premier League action, Stats Perform delves into the key Opta facts from each of the games.
Leeds United 0-1 Leicester City: New manager, same Leeds
Jesse Marsch's first game as Leeds boss ended in defeat to Leicester as United fell to a fifth successive league loss for the first time since April 2015, when they were in the Championship.
Leeds have failed to score in three straight league matches for the first time in a year, this despite registering 19 shots in their latest blank against Leicester.
United's expected goals (xG) return of 1.95 is their highest without scoring in a league game since June 2020, and the familiar failings were also on show at the other end.
Harvey Barnes' second-half winner means Leeds have gone 13 league games without a clean sheet, their longest-such run since 14 without a shutout ending in August 2016.
This was the fifth straight league game Barnes has scored against Leeds – four of those while playing for Leicester and one for West Brom, making them his favourite opponent.
Aston Villa 4-0 Southampton: Coutinho's home comforts
Villa are firmly back on track after registering back-to-back victories under Steven Gerrard for the first time since his opening two games in charge in November.
The Villans put four unanswered goals past Southampton at Villa Park for their biggest Premier League win since thrashing Liverpool 7-2 in October 2020.
Barcelona loanee Philippe Coutinho once again played a big part in the victory by scoring one and assisting another for Douglas Luiz.
Coutinho has now been directly involved in six goals in his first four home league games for Villa, scoring three of his own and setting up as many.
Ollie Watkins had earlier opened the scoring with his 21st Premier League strike since the start of the 2020-21 season, while Danny Ings added to his two assists with Villa's fourth goal.
Newcastle United 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion: Fraser helps end Magpies' duck against Seagulls
For a while things looked incredibly bleak for Newcastle, even after their big-money takeover, but they now find themselves seven points above the relegation zone.
The Magpies held off Brighton to make it eight Premier League games without defeat – no team is on a better such run – with five of those matches ending in victory.
Ryan Fraser opened the scoring to make it two goals in five Premier League outings, matching his tally from his previous 70 appearances, before setting up Fabian Schar.
That was the earliest United have scored twice in a Premier League home game since January 2007 and, despite Lewis Dunk's header, Eddie Howe's side saw out the win.
It marks the first time Newcastle have defeated Brighton in the Premier League in their 10th such encounter, having previously failed to so much as score against them at home.
Norwich City 1-3 Brentford: Bees buzzing thanks to Toney treble
After a run of eight Premier League games without a win, Brentford bolstered their survival ambitions with a well-earned victory away at bottom side Norwich.
Ivan Toney was the hero for the Bees with three goals, two of those from the penalty spot, making Brentford the 40th different team to boast a hat-trick scorer.
The Brentford striker now has nine Premier League goals for the season, each of those coming via his right foot.
Teemu Pukki scored a consolation but it was another miserable day for Norwich, whose goal difference of -42 is the worst at this stage since Derby County in 2007-08 (-44).
Not that it will matter a great deal in the grand scheme of things, but Brentford are the first team Pukki has scored home and away against in a single Premier League season.
Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace: Shaky Wanderers lose again
Wolves' European hopes suffered another blow as they fell to a third successive Premier League defeat, as many as they lost in their previous 13.
Bruno Lage's out-of-form side have now conceded six goals in their last four league games, after shipping just five in 12 before that.
Jean-Philippe Mateta came up with the breakthrough from close range for his fourth goal in eight Premier League starts, and Wilfried Zaha doubled Palace's lead from the penalty spot.
Ivory Coast international Zaha has now been directly involved in 83 goals in the competition, the joint-ninth best total for an African player, level with Nwankwo Kanu.
With this latest loss, it is the first time Wolves have lost three games in a row against Palace in their entire league history.
Burnley 0-4 Chelsea: Blues cruise at Turf Moor
It was business as usual for Chelsea as they won for a third Premier League game running without conceding in what proved to be a straightforward victory at lowly Burnley.
The Blues scored all four of their goals in the second half as they enjoyed their biggest away league win since October 2018 when also beating Burnley by the same scoreline.
This was the biggest margin of victory for an away side in a game that was goalless at half-time since Tottenham beat Aston Villa 4-0 in December 2012.
Reece James started the scoring and in the process became the first defender from Europe's top five leagues to both score and assist five goals this term in all competitions.
Kai Havertz also netted twice before Christian Pulisic added some gloss to the scoreline – his fourth goal at Turf Moor, matching a record for an away player set by Tottenham's Harry Kane.
Liverpool 1-0 West Ham: Reds roll on thanks to Mane
Sadio Mane's first-half goal made it seven wins in a row for Liverpool in the Premier League, their best such streak since a run of 18 when they claimed the title two years ago.
That close-range finish was Mane's 12th of the season in the league, nine of those coming at Anfield – no player has scored more home goals in the division this season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played the ball into the box for Mane's goal for his 16th assist in all competitions this term, more than he has ever registered in a single campaign.
Liverpool were not at their best and that was particularly true of Mohamed Salah, who failed to score from six shots – only against Stoke in April 2018 (seven) has he fared worse.
Incredibly, Virgil van Dijk has never been on the losing side for Liverpool in 60 Premier League home games at Anfield, setting a new record in that regard.
'There are no gimmies' – Dyche warns Everton not to step off the pedal
Everton's big win over Liverpool shows they are "sticking to the task", so says Sean Dyche, who knows his team must keep their feet on the ground as they aim to overcome Brentford.
The Toffees won 2-0 at Goodison Park on Wednesday, taking a huge stride towards Premier League safety and denting their rivals' title hopes in the process.
Everton moved onto 33 points, eight clear of 18th-placed Luton Town with four games remaining.
It means that, should Luton fail to beat Wolves on Saturday, Everton - who face Brentford at home in an evening kick-off - would be able to ensure their safety with a victory.
Dyche, though, is taking nothing for granted.
Reflecting on the derby victory, Dyche said: "Well, it certainly says we're sticking to task, whatever comes at us. I'm certainly proud of that, because we've had some ups and downs ourselves.
"But it has to be parked because another one is coming around. Another important game, another chance, another opportunity to play at Goodison and get three points, so there is a lot on the next game. So they do have to have a window to enjoy that last night.
"That's the challenge. Of course, I said enjoy the moment, but I said let's go and do it again.
"It's a decent outfit in Brentford. They had a funny spell themselves and have come out of that.
"It's not easy. There are no 'gimmies' in this league. I praised the players first last night and then said 'Right, tomorrow we come in and get on with business'.
"We've taken big steps, but there are more to come. We can control the situation ourselves, and that's what we have always aimed to do - even with the points taken away and all that sort of stuff. Grip hold of it and let's run with it and I think we're beginning to show that again. Three wins out of four now: three home wins, clean sheets, good signs."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank said: "It's been a tough season - everyone is in the Premier League, no matter where you are in the table. But this season in particular because of injuries and other things that have been happening."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Everton - Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin was immense against Liverpool, scoring for the third time in four Premier League appearances. The striker netted in Everton's 3-1 win over Brentford in the reverse fixture in September.
Brentford - Bryan Mbeumo
Mbeumo has been involved in nine goals in his last 10 Premier League starts, while Brentford have won 39 per cent of their league games when the Cameroonian has started this season (7/18), compared to 12.5% when he has not (2/16).
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Brentford have scored eight goals in their last two Premier League away games, netting five on the road for the first time ever in the top flight last time out at Luton.
Everton have opened the scoring in each of their last four Premier League meetings with Brentford, doing so in the opening 10 minutes of the match on three occasions in that run.
None of the 10 league meetings between Everton and Brentford at Goodison Park have ended in a draw, with the Toffees winning seven of these to the Bees' three. However, the Opta supercomputer is predicting a draw is a likely result.
Having been unbeaten in their first three Premier League games against Everton (W2 D1), Brentford have now lost their last two against the Toffees.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Everton - 32.4%
Brentford - 38.2%
Draw - 29.4%
Carragher says Liverpool may need to move on from Salah and Nunez
Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool's next manager has a big decision to make regarding Mohamed Salah's future, adding the Reds definitely need to move on from Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool's title hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow at Goodison Park on Wednesday, as goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin handed Everton a memorable 2-0 win.
The defeat – Liverpool's first at Goodison since 2010 – means they are three points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal and one clear of Manchester City, who have two games in hand.
Jurgen Klopp now looks likely to end his final season at the helm with just February's EFL Cup triumph to show for his efforts, with Carragher declaring Liverpool's title hopes to be over on Wednesday.
He also believes Klopp's successor – which could be Feyenoord's Arne Slot if reports are to be believed – may need to shake up Liverpool's frontline.
"Mo Salah is Liverpool's goalscorer and he's gone off the boil. That's shone a light on others," Carragher told Sky Sports.
"There is a real discussion for the new manager about what the future holds for Mo Salah – it's the first time we've asked that question. He only has a year to go on his deal.
"He's looked a shadow of himself for a lot of this season but especially since he's come back from injury. He is Liverpool's legend, superstar, one of the all-time greats, but he's been so far off it."
Salah has 17 Premier League goals this season, but 14 of those came before he went to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt in January.
Prior to that tournament, Salah boasted a shot conversion rate of 21.54 per cent for 2023-24, netting with 14 of his 65 total attempts in the competition. Since returning, he has only converted 8.57 per cent of his 35 efforts.
Salah's strike partner Nunez has also come in for criticism, with only Erling Haaland (30) missing more big chances than the Uruguayan's 26 this term. Haaland has, however, converted 34.78 per cent of his big chances to Nunez's 18.75 per cent.
Carragher does not believe Nunez is capable of further improvement after two up-and-down campaigns on Merseyside, saying: "I think I'm at the stage with Nunez where I'm not sure there's a question to ask.
"You want him to do well because he gives everything, he causes trouble, he gets the odd goal.
"But after two years, when Liverpool are going for the title or in big games, you need your man to score at Old Trafford or at Goodison Park. This is the business end, the time to win.
"He's ground to a halt. After two years there's going to be no improvement in him. This is what he is.
"He can cause trouble but he's erratic with his finishing – it's not enough to win you trophies so there's a big decision to be made on him. It's not acceptable when you're going for a title."
Guardiola insists Man City share same title hunger as challengers
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City share the same hunger to lift the Premier League trophy as their title rivals, warning perfection may still be needed for the champions to retain their crown.
It has been a mixed week for City's rivals thus far, with Arsenal thrashing Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday before Liverpool suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat in Wednesday's Merseyside derby at Everton.
Those results mean the Gunners sit four points clear of City and Liverpool lead the champions by one, but with two games in hand, the title race is still very much in City's hands.
They go to Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday before facing Nottingham Forest on Sunday, and Guardiola still thinks even the slightest slip-up could prove costly.
Asked whether City need to win their six remaining games to win the title, Guardiola said: "Yes, absolutely. They gave us a chance, with the fact they lost last week to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace.
"But we knew what we had to do before those games, and now we have to win all games so that at the end, we have it in our hands to retain our title.
"Nothing changes. The fact is, we knew what we had to do before, and now nothing has changed."
Guardiola was then asked whether City are as motivated to win the title as their rivals, having lifted the trophy in five of their seven seasons under him to date.
He said: "I would not be here [if not]. There are so many games, and to be in this position after what we have done in the past, it would not be possible [without the desire].
"We know the difficulty is extreme, and it will remain difficult because we have tough games coming up. We go one game at a time, and we know that if we lose, it will be so tough to retain the title.
"Last Saturday proved the many difficulties we have, especially the schedule and recovery time after the game against [Real] Madrid. The players were unbelievable."
Guardiola hit out at the busy nature of the schedule after Saturday's FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea, saying he couldn't understand how his players had managed to perform just three days after their penalty shoot-out defeat to Madrid.
Those comments have sparked renewed debate about the football calendar, and Guardiola was asked whether elite clubs had a right to complain while organising money-spinning pre-season tours around the globe.
"Yeah, but we have to do it," he said. "We have to pay the salaries of the players and the manager, and the club has fans all around the world who want to see us. They are an income for us.
"It's not easy, but we have to get resources. I would love to say don't go to another continent to play, have another week of holiday, and then train here. But we have to understand the club.
"It's not just Man City. Every club needs those financial resources to be sustainable. Now that we've won a lot, for many years, we have a lot of supporters. That's why it's necessary to do, and you have to adapt.
"But that is not the reason why [he complained]. The reason is that the schedule is so tight. I'm sorry, it's not."
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